The present invention relates to a process for producing .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for producing .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol in which acetophenone is hydrogenated by a fixed bed flow reaction in the presence of a catalyst, wherein the amount of ethylbenzene produced as a by-product is controlled at a sufficiently low level, and hence the selectivity for .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol is high, thus the process being extremely excellent in an industrial production.
The .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol is useful as, for example, a starting material for producing styrene, and materials for producing various kinds of perfumes. It is known that .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol can be produced by the hydrogenation of acetophenone. For example, in Japanese Patent Publication No.59-27216, there is disclosed a process for hydrogenating acetophenone by using copper-chromite catalyst containing barium, zinc, and magnesium. However, there had not been previously known that a process for producing .alpha.-phenylethyl alcohol by hydrogenating acetophenone in a fixed bed with high selectivity and efficiency.